Questions for Chapter Three of Guns, Germs, and Steel: “Collision at Cajamarca”
Complete these comprehension questions as you read the text. Though they will not necessarily be discussed
in the seminar, they will serve as part of your pre-seminar preparation grade.
Pages 67-68: Introduction
1. Who is Pizarro?
2. Who is Atahualpa?
3. Why does Diamond want to focus on their encounter?
Pages 69-74: Primary Document Analysis
1. Read through the eyewitness accounts and write down some of the most vivid details.
2. Identify the authors. Are they dependable? Why or why not?
3. Is there a bias in this source? What evidence from the text supports your answer?
4. What is the purpose of these accounts? Who are the intended readers?
5. What is the role of religion (on both sides) in this exchange?
6. How do the eyewitnesses describe the Inca?
Pages 74-81: Analyze the Encounter
1. What does proximate mean? What were the proximate factors that lead to the defeat of the Incas?
2. How might history be different if Atahualpa had not been immediately captured?
Questions for Chapter Three of Guns, Germs, and Steel: “Collision at Cajamarca”
3. Why was Pizarro able to capture Atahualpa?
4. Why was Atahualpa at Cajamarca?
5. What factors allowed Pizarro to be at Cajamarca in the first place?
6. Why did Atahualpa walk into the trap?
The questions below are those that will be discussed in the seminar. Make sure that you are interacting with
the text as you prepare your answers. You should mark your questions and reactions in the margin next to the
text, prepare note cards or write out a narrative. Things to consider are: circling and then looking up any
vocabulary words that you don’t know; underlining key phrases; keeping track of the story or idea as
it unfolds; noting word patterns or repetitions; anything that strikes you as confusing, important or
about which you feel strongly; writing down your own questions.
1. Every civilization produces “heroes.” Compare what might be a hero to the Spaniards of the early 1500’s
with the Inca’s idea of a hero during this era.
2. How would you rank in order of most important to least important these immediate reasons for the
Spaniards’ success in the New World? Explain why:
-military technology
-centralized government
-disease
-writing and literacy
-maritime technology
3. Looking back at the eyewitness account in terms of its point of view, its intended audience, and its impact,
predict the outcome if Atahualpa’s eyewitness account of Cajamarca had also been sent to Spain.
4. Human beings tend to rationalize or blame dramatic changes in their lives on such things as politics,
religion, fate, etc. Based on the events and outcome at Cajamarca, what choice would you make: religion vs.
fate? Why?
5. Define the political term “empire.” In what ways did the Spaniards and the Incas share common ideas
about empire building? Does empire building still exist today? If so, is it done in the same way?
6. The Spanish, though outnumbered and far from home, conquered the Incas rather decisively. Does one
civilization ever have the right to conquer another?
7. What lessons can we drawn on from this past collision that could provide insight on “collisions” between
modern cultures?